Frank c



(No Model.)

I. O. SUPER.

' PRISM LIGHT.

No. 595,271. Patented Dec. 7, 18-97.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

FRANK C. SOPER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE LUXFER PRlSM PATENTS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

PRISM-LIGHT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,271, dated December 7, 1897..

Application filed October 11, 1897. Serial No. 654,855. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK O. SOPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Prism-Lights, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to prism-lights, and has for its object to provide a new and im- IO proved prism-light, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view of the prism side of a prism-light embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section through the prism-light shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section showing a modified construction.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several figures.

In forming the ordinary prism-lights the prisms in the middle of the light are often imperfect, owing to various reasonsas, for example, the chilling of the small amount of glass at the outer ends of the prisms before the glass reaches the bottom of the grooves in the mold. The prism-light is also apt to be distorted and warped and is generally made small to obviate these evils as far as possible. One of the objects of my invention 0 is to provide a prism-light wherein these evils will be obviated and also to provide an ornamental prisin-light.

Referring now to the drawings, the prismlight A is provided with the usual prisms B,

5 which may be of any construction. On the prism-face of the light I provide a suitable design of any description formed of projecting ribs C between the prisms or across the prisms. These ribs may extend to the sur- 0 face of the outer edge of the prisms themselves or may project beyond the prisms. I may also work the design on the back of the prism-light by having the part from which the design is made project from the back of 5 the light as well as from the front of the light, as shown at D in Fig. S. It is of course evident that designs and constructions of any suitable description may be formed in this manner, and I have not attempted to set go forth the various constructions embodying my invention, as I consider the device herein shown sufficient for purposes of illustration.

It will be seen that by this construction I provide on the face of the prism-light proj ecting ribs other than the prisms which form 5 5 the design and which act to strengthen the prism-light, thus enabling me to produce lights of larger dimensions than has been possible heretofore. This construction also aids in producing complete and undistorted 6o prisms, as it provides more surface near the outer edge of the prisms, thus preventing the material from cooling before it reaches the bottom of the mold.

The preferred form of my prism-light is that in which there is raised on the prism side a series of lines composed of the substance of the prism-light relatively narrow in cross-section with sides substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the receiving-surface and with an outer edge or surface substantially flush with the outer edges of the prisms. Such a raised line or series of lines will give a sort of surface of rest to the prism side of the prism-light upon which the prism-light, either in the processof manufacture or after it has been completed, may rest with the least possible danger to the prisms; .and as I have shown these lines theyaiford this protection, particularly So at the corners .where the prisms are most likely to be fractured. The lines developed in the center are useful in preventing imperfect and poorly-formed prisms, which result in the form resulting from the old processes 8 5 of manufacture.

I claim-- 1. A prism-light comprising a substantially flat and relatively thin body of transparent material with a series of comparatively small 0 prisms systematically arranged on one side thereof to produce an increased illuminating effect, and a series of comparatively narrow flat-surfaced ridges crossing the prismgrooves on the prism side and having sides substantially perpendicular to the receivingsurface of the prism-light, and outer edges or surfaces substantially flush with the outer edges of the prisms.

2. Aprismdight comprisingasubstantially roo flat and relatively thin body of transparent material with a series of comparatively small edges of the prisms, and duplicates of said ridges raised on the receiving-surface of the IO prism-light.

FRANK C. SOPER.

lVitnesses:

DONALD M. CARTER, HOMER L. KRAFT. 

